AXA IM unveils global ‘robotech’ fund

AXA Investment Managers has formally announced the launch of a new global ‘robotech’ fund it says is aimed at catering to those keen to invest in the growing global ‘robotech’ industry.

The AXA World Funds Framlington Robotech Fund, as AXA calls it, is a sub-fund of AXA’s Luxembourg Sicav AXA World Funds. According to AXA, it will look to achieve long term capital growth by investing at least two thirds of its net assets in equities and equity-related instruments issued by companies around the world that operate within the robotics and robotics-related technology sector.

Related articles

The fund was actually launched on 19 December last year, as was revealed by International Investment‘s sister title InvestmentEurope yesterday.

Tom Riley is the lead manager of the fund, alongside Jeremy Gleeson, portfolio manager of the AXA Framlington Global Technology fund.

Investments decisions will rely on a combination of macroeconomic, sector and company specific analysis, regardless of any geographical asset allocation, AXA said.

Companies that are active in industrial robotics will be included in the portfolio, but so to will be businesses that are active in other areas in which robo-technology plays a role, including transport, healthcare, semiconductors and software, AXA said.

In a statement accompanying the announcement of the fund’s launch, Riley noted that the world was at “the early stages of the robotics revolution”, with the market expected to grow by 10% a year until 2025.

“While this is an emerging multi-decade theme, it is already an investible area from which we aim to select 40 to 60 fast-growth companies to build a global portfolio, diversified across market cap and sectors,” he added.

“Robotics will continue to have a significant impact on society for years to come, and an increasing number of new, listed small- and mid-cap companies will become investment opportunities over time.”

The fund may invest in money market instruments and up to 10% of its net assets can be invested in shares of UCITS and/or other UCIs, AXA said.

The AXA World Funds Framlington Robotech fund is available in the following being offered in both retail and institutional share classes, and in four currency share classes: US dollar, Swiss franc, euros and pounds sterling. It is currently registered for distribution in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK, with registration pending “in coming months” in Switzerland.